TV Rewind: Twin Peaks
Episode 6: Cooper's Dreams
By Eric Hughes
August 16, 2011
As well, we find out a second tape is missing, and its case is dated the day Laura disappeared. Maddy, Donna and James assume Jacoby’s got it, and plot out what they should do to recover it. I’ll return to this item later, because this is the storyline I want answers to ASAP.
Audrey, now working the counter at her father’s department store, has turned into a useful asset while privately investigating Laura’s death. Whereas I suspected she’d maybe die off quickly, since Ronette and Laura held the same post before getting taken, I actually think the storyline’s aim might be to give Audrey a little more to do than merely being the stand-in for lowly-teenager-desperately-in-need-of-attention. I mean, she’s finding out good stuff – and all on her own!
What happens is this: Audrey’s snooping around her boss’ office, and is forced to hide herself in a closet space when her boss enters the room to interview a girl named Jennie. Emory thinks Jennie might do well as “hospitality” at One-Eyed Jacks, so Jennie takes his card. They exit, and Audrey reads over Emory’s notes, which has Ronette’s name listed a few spaces up. Hmm.
The whole thing becomes a moment of regeneration for Audrey’s character. She procures the number from Jennie, and then later – actually, cliffhanger one -- gets hired on the spot at One-Eyed Jacks for knotting a cherry stem in her mouth. She so badly wants a shot at One-Eyed Jacks that she’s willing to suck on cherries for it. A far cry from the Audrey of “Pilot,” who played pranks with cups of coffee.
I commend Audrey, really, for putting herself so close to the heat the battle. I mean she landed a job at her daddy’s department store and then, as of “Episode 7,” will be working at the same shady whorehouse and gambling hall Ronette and Laura once worked at, too. She’s conducting her investigation by going directly to the source. I love it.
Another surprise is that Josie is less interested in her mill going up in flames, and more interested in – cliffhanger two – her mill going up in flames with Catherine’s body caught somewhere inside. Unbeknownst to me, Josie is in cahoots with Ben, Catherine’s co-conspirator since maybe “Pilot.”
Josie and Ben teaming together – along with Catherine almost signing a new life insurance policy that would name Josie as her beneficiary – kinda came out of nowhere, but I welcome the development. It’s the show’s first real instance of face turning to heel, and it’s about time a show as nutty and, at times, complex as Twin Peaks has characters switching sides.
Anyway, Waldo the bird finally speaks, and mentions Laura and Leo in the same, um, breath. As well: “Don’t go there,” “hurting me” and “stop it, stop it.” Evidence continues to mount against Leo, and yet I still think his involvement in Laura’s demise feels easy. Perhaps I’m stubborn.
What’s working against me is this: After Waldo’s brief sentiments, the bird is shot and killed by a gunman, who turns out to be – go figure! (and cliffhanger three!) – Leo.
Cooper and company don’t have much time to make what they will of the incident, because they’ve got other business to attend to that very eve. Namely: Gambling away money at One-Eyed Jacks, Jacques’ employer. As expected, Cooper is an expert at Blackjack – he’s an alien, I tell ya! – and earns back much of the night’s bit of funding he “borrowed” from the department. Soon enough, Cooper’s dealer rotates out, and – yep, cliffhanger four – Jacques takes his place.
But the gem of the episode lies in the brilliant plan devised by Donna and James: Dress up Maddy, who looks like a stunning reflection of Laura, in a blond wig, record her on videotape waving around the day’s newspaper, then place the tape next to Jacoby’s door and lure him there to pick it up and watch it by placing a call to him from Maddy pretending to be Laura (who uses lines from that discovered tape).
Jacoby takes the bait, and Audrey and James enter his space -- but we don’t witness the fruits of those labors. What we do get, though, is an unsettling cinema verite shot of Maddy, wig and all, awaiting Jacoby in the same spot she and Donna/James shot the home movie. Code for: death (or impending doom).
That shot - which ended the episode - left “Episode 6” in such distress. I don’t know what else could come of it other than Jacoby having his way with Maddy or, maybe, offing her. And all for the benefit of Donna and James’ missing tape.
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